Feed-tripping mechanism.



PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

J. PARKER. FEED TRIPPING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 17, 1900. N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

m M 0 w Z/MMQ I'HE norms Pzrzns co, FHDTQ-LITNOV. WASHINGTON, mV 0.

No. 718 514. PATENTED JAN. 13 1903.

. J. PARKER.

FEED TRIPPING MECHANISM.

. APPLICATION FILED DBO. 17, 1900. N0 MODEL.

3 8HEETSSHEET 2.

m5 NORRIS pz'rzws co. wuvoumu. WASHINGTON n r No. 718,614. PATENTED JAN.13, 1903.

- J. PARKER.

FEED TRIPPING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 1'1, 1900. K0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

/I// TNESSES,

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UNTTn STATES.

LATENT @rricn.

JOHN PARKER, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE BROWN ANDSHARPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ACORPORATION'OF RHODE ISLAND.

FEEDJRIPPING M ECHANIS'M.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 718,514, dated.January13, 1903.

Application filed December 17. 1900. Serial No. 40,129. (No model.)

T at. whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN PARKER, of the city and county of Providence,State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Feed-Tripping Mechanism;

and I do hereby declare the following specification, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same,- to be afull, clear, and exact description [0 thereof.

The invention relates to mechanism for tripping or stopping the feed ofa traveling carriage, table, or other member of a machine.

In the accompanying drawings the invenr5 tion is shown as applied to amilling-machine for tripping the feed of the work-carrying table; butthe invention'is equally applicable for use in other relations where itis desired to automatically trip the feed of a moving part, andparticularly where a reverse feed is employed.

I-Ieretofore in feed-tripping mechanisms it has been customary to employa single plunger arranged to slide in a part of the machine which doesnot travel and adapted to be depressed by dogs on the traveling member,the depression of said plunger acting through suitable connections tothrow out the clutch through which revolution is'imparted to thefeed-screw. With this arrangement, as the traveling carriage or membercomes to rest with one of the dogs on the carriage directly above theplunger, the clutch cannot be again thrown into engagement with thefeed-screw 5 to feed the carriage in the reverse direction, because theclutch cannot be shifted without raising the plunger, and this isprevented by the contact of the dog therewith. Consequently it has beennecessary to feed the car- 0 riage back by hand for a sufficientdistance to cause the dog to clear the plunger before the clutch can beshifted to automatically feed the carriage in the 'reverse direction.

One object of the present invention is to .5 obviate the necessity forthus feeding back the carriage byhand and to enable the clutch to be atonce shifted to throw in the automatic feed.

To this end the invention consists, primarily, in the employment of twoplungers connected with the shifting clutch and adapted to be depressedor actuated by the dogs on the traveling carriage to shift the clutch,one

of said plungers serving to shift the clutch in one direction and theother plunger serving to shift the clutch in the opposite direction.

A further feature of invention consists in the combination, with saidplungers, of a stop or stops which may be set so as to permit the 6eclutch to be shifted in either direction or may be set so as to permitthe clutch to be shifted in one direction, but to prevent its beingshifted in the opposite direction.

The invention also consists of certain combinations and arrangements ofparts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of aportion of a millingmachine, taken on the line 00 as, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 isa transverse section on the line y y, Fig.

1. Fig. 3 is a plan View, partly in section, on a larger scale, showingthe shifting clutch and the mechanism for operating it. Fig. 4

is a front view showing the tripping mechanism, and Fig. 5 is a detail.

1 represents a portion of the knee of a mill" ing-machine, 2 the saddle,3 the swivel bed, and 4. the work-table, all of the usual constructionand arrangement.

5 is the shaft, usually driven from the spindle of the milling-machine,from which the power is taken for the cross-feed of the saddle and forthe feed of the work-table.

-6 is the spur-gear on the shaft 5, which meshes with the gear 7,loosely mounted on the cross-feed screw 8, to which it is adapted to beconnected by means of the shifting clutch 9 to revolve the cross-feedscrew 8, which screw when the clutch 9 is disconnected from the gear 7maybe rotated by the handwheel 10.

To the shaft 5 is secured the bevel-gear ll, which meshes with thebevel-gear 12, secured to the short shaft 13, mounted in the saddle. 5The shaft 13 carries at its opposite end another bevel-gear 14:, whichmeshes with the two bevel-gears 15 15, loosely mounted on the work-tablefeed-screw 16.

17 is the shifting clutch, mounted on the feed-screw 16-between thebevel-gears 15 15 and connected to said feed-screw by a splineand-grooveconnection, so as to revolve with the screw, but so as to be capable ofsliding thereon.

The parts thus far described are of the usual construction.

Arranged loosely in the groove of the clutch 17 is a clutch shoe 18,provided with a hole adapted to receive the eccentric-pin 19, projectingfrom the inner end of the rock-shaft 20, mounted in the swivel-bed. Thisrock-shaft carries atits outer end a pinion 21 and a handlever 22.Arranged to slide in recesses formed to receive them in the swivel-bedare two plungers 23 23, one located on either side of the pinion 21, asshown in Fig. 4. Each of said plu ngers is beveled at its upper end, asshown, and is provided on its inner side with a rack 24, arranged toengage the pinion 21. 25 25 are the dogs carried by the work-table andarranged to engage the beveled upper ends of the plungers 23 23 todepress the same. As shown in the drawings, each of the dogs is providedwith a nut 26, which nut is screwed on a bolt 27, the head of which isheld in the T-slot 28, formed in the work-table, whereby the dogs may beadjusted on the table and held in any adjusted position. One of theplungers (as shown in the drawings the plunger 23) has a slot 29 cut inits outer side, as shown in Fig. 4, forming shoulders 30 30'. Arrangedto slide in suitable recesses formed in the swivel-bed are two lockingpins or stops 31 31, located on opposite sides of the pinion 32, looselymounted in a recess formed in the swivel-bed. Each of said locking-pinsis provided on its inner side with a rack 33, arranged to engage thepinion 32. The pinion is held in place in its recess by a screw 34.

The operation of the mechanism above described is as follows: With thehand-lever 22 in vertical position both of the plungers 23 23 will beheld in midway position,as shown in full lines in Fig. 4, and the clutch17 will likewise be held in midway position and out of engagement withboth of the bevel-gears 15 15, as shown in the drawings. When now thelever 22 is turned to the right or to the left to shift the clutch intoengagement with one or the other of said bevel-gears, one of theplungers 23 23 will be thrown upward into the path of the dogs on thecarriage, while the other plunger will be moved downward. Assuming thelever 22 to be thrown to the right and so as to engage the clutch 17with the bevel-gear 15, the plunger 23 will by such movement of thelever be thrown upward and the plunger 23 thrown downward into therespective positions indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. As thefeed-screw is revolved by the gear 15 the work-table will be fed fromleft to right in Fig. 4 and will continue to be so fed until the dog 25in its movement depresses the plunger 23 far enough to cause thedisengagement of the clutch from the bevel-gear 15, when the feedingmovement of the table will cease. The downward movement of the plungerefiects the disengagement of the clutch by means of the rack 24, whichserves to turn the pinion 21, and thus rock the clutch-shaft 20. In Fig.4 the parts are shown with the dog 25 just coming in contact with thebeveled end of the plunger 23 in its elevated or dottedline position.The table will come to rest with the dog 25 above the plunger 23; butthis will not prevent the shifting of the clutch to engage the otherbevel-gear 15 for the reverse feed, because the movement of the lever 22to shift the clutch in the proper direction to engage the bevel-gear 15will serve to lower and not to raise the plunger 23, the companionplunger 23 instead being raised into position to be actuated by theother dog 25 to stop the feed in the reverse direction. Thus thenecessity of beginning the reverse feed by hand and running the tableback by hand far enough to clear the dog from the plungeris entirelyobviated. The clutch may be shifted and the automatic feed brought intooperation at once.

Another advantage resulting from the twoplunger arrangement abovedescribed is that the automatic feed may he availed of for very shortfeedsas, for instance, in milling a short slot, say one-quarter of aninch in length. With the single-plunger arrangement heretofore employedand in which both dogs actuated the same plunger when one dog hasdepressed the plunger and has come to rest above the plunger the otherdog must be at least a suflicient distance away from the plunger on theother side to permit the table to be fed by hand far enough for the dogwhich is holding the plunger down to clear the plunger, and thus permitthe clutch to be shifted. The extent of the hand-feed required to clearthe dog from the plunger would be ordinarily more than a quarter of aninch, with the result that to mill a slot of that length the feed wouldhave to be entirely by hand and the automatic feed could not be used atall. With the two-plunger arrangement above described the clutch may beshifted and the automatic feed set in operation at once, notwithstandingthe presence of the dog above the plunger which is actuated, while theother dog may be set as close to its plunger as may be desired and sothat not only is the automatic feed available for the reverse feed, butsuch automatic feed may be as short as desired. In Fig. 4 a dottedcircle represents a position to which the dog 25 may be adjusted andwhich would cause a very short feed of the table, but one which would beautomatic in both directions and which would also be automaticallythrown out. It willfurther be seen that the construction is such thateither one of the plungers may be actuated or depressed by either one ofthe dogs on the work-table. Thus, assuming the plunger 23 to be in itselevated position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, said plungermay be depressed by either one of the dogs 25 25, according to thedirection in which the work-table is moving at the ti me, and so, also,with respect to the plunger 23 if the position of the clutch be such asto cause said plunger 23' to be in its elevated position. This featureis of especial importance when by reason of other reversing mechanismembodied in the machine the rotation of the shaft 13 is sometimes in onedirection and sometimes in the opposite direction. It is also to benoted that when the feed mechanism is tripped by the depression of theplunger which during that feeding movement was in its elevated positionand the feed thereby stopped both plungers are in their inactiveposition and remain in that position until the other plunger is moved toits elevated position by some means other than the dog on the worktable.In other words, the depression of one plunger by the cooperating dogdoes not serve to elevate the other plunger into operative position, butsome other means is required to elevate the other plunger.

In the arrangement shown in the drawings both plungers remain in theirinactive position and the clutch of the feed mechanism remains in itscentral or neutral position until the lever 22 is moved by hand to shiftthe clutch to start the feed in the reverse direction, the movement ofsaid lever serving to elevate the other plunger into the path of thedogs on the table. .lf desired, mechanism may be provided to shift theclutch and throw in the reverse feed automaticallythat is, toautomatically shift the clutch into engagement with one of thebevel-gears immediately after it has been disconnected from the otherbevel-gear-and in such case this automatic mechanism will constitute themeans to elevate the other plunger into position to be engaged by thedog on the work-table.

It often happens that the automatic reverse feed is not required-thatis, that the table after being automatically fed in one direction andthe feed automatically thrown out is run back by hand, doing no work onthis return movement. In such case the clutch is shifted by hand only inone directionthat is, only in a direction to engage one of thebevel-gearsand it is desirable that the clutch should not heaccidentally shifted into engagement with the wrong gear. Thelocking-pin arrangement above described effectively serves to preventany such accidental engagement. \Vhere the automatic feed in bothdirections is employed, the locking-pins are in the position shown inFig. 4 that is, both pins are withdrawn to one side of the path ofmovement of the plunger 23 and so that the handle 22 may be turned andthe clutch shifted into engagement with either one of the bevel-gears.If now it be desired that the clutch should be shifted only intoengagement with the bevel-gear 15, for instance, the upper locking-pin31 is pushed inward, so that its inner end will enter the slot 29 in theplunger 23. With the lockingpin 31 in this position it will be seen thatthe lever 22 cannot be turned to the right because of the engagement ofthe upper shoulder 30 on the plunger 23 with the inner end of thelocking-pin 31, which will prevent the downward movement of said plungerbelow its midway position, and thus prevent the turning of the lever 22in a direction to engage the clutch with the bevel-gear15. The lever 22,however, will not be prevented from being turned to the left, becausethe Plunger 23 will be free to rise and the plunger 23 consequently freeto be lowered. Thus with the locking-pin 31 pushed in the clutch can beengaged with the bevel-gear 15, but cannot be thrown into engagementwith the bevelgear 15. If, on the other hand, the lower locking-pin 31'be pushed inward, so that its inner end will enter the slot 30, then theplunger 23 cannot be raised above its midway position, and consequentlythe lever 22 cannot be thrown to the left, but can only be turned to theright to engage the clutch with the gear 15'. It will be noted that thepushing in of one of the locking-pins serves, by means of the interposedconnecting-pinion 32,to retract the other pin. It will also be observedthat with the lever 22 and plunger 23 23 in midway position eitherlocking-pin can be pushed inward, so as to projectits inner end into theslot 30. The locking-pins 31 31' also serve a useful purpose inconnection with throwing out the feed by hand. In shifting the clutch byhand there is a liability that in withdrawing the clutch from one of thebevel-gears it may accidentally be carried over into engagement with theopposite gear. With the proper locking-pin projected into the slot 30this is rendered impossible.

The means for connecting the clutch-shaft 20 with the clutch, consistingof the eccentric-pin rigid with the shaft and entering a hole in theclutch-shoe, is a very simple and efficient arrangement, doing away withthe complicated and jointed connections heretofore employed and enablinga large amount of leverage to be obtained for operating the clutch.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. The combination, with a movable member provided with dogs, andmechanism for feeding said movable member, of mechanism for trippingsaid feed mechanism, said tripping mechanism embodying two plungerseither of which is adapted to be engaged by either of the dogs on themovable member.

2. The combination, with a movable member provided with dogs, andmechanism for feeding said movable member in reverse directions, ofmechanism for tripping said feed mechanism,said tripping mechanismembodying two plungers to be engaged by the dogs on the movable member,one of said dogs serving to depress the elevated plunger and throw outthe feed, and means independent of said dog for throwing in the reversefeed and elevating the other plunger into the path of said dogs.

3. The combination with a movable member provided with dogs, andmechanism for feeding said movable member in reverse directions ofmechanism for tripping said feed mechanism,said tripping mechanismembodying two plungers to be engaged by the dogs on the movable member,the plungers being connected together so that when the plunger whichstands in the path of the dogs is depressed by one of the dogs to throwout the feed, both plungers will be brought to a midway position out ofthe path of the dogs, and will remain in that position until the reversefeed is thrown in, the throwing in of the reverse feed serving toelevate the other plunger into the path of the dogs.

4. The combination, with a movable member provided with dogs, andmechanism for feeding said movable member, of mechanism for trippingsaid feed mechanism, said tripping mechanism embodying two plnngers tobe engaged by the dogs on the movable member, said plungers beingadapted to be moved into and out of the path of movement of said dogs,and a movable stop adapted to be moved into position to prevent one ofsaid plungers from beingmoved into the path of movement of the dogs.

5. The combination, with a reversible feed mechanism embodying ashifting clutch, of mechanism for throwing out said clutch to trip andstop the feed, said clutch-shifting mechanism embodying two plungers foractuating said clutch, one of said plungers being adapted to throw outsaid clutch in one direction and the other plunger being adapted tothrow out said clutch in the opposite direction, and means for throwingin said clutch to start the reverse feed.

6. The combination, with a reversible feed mechanism embodying a pair ofgears and an intermediate shifting clutch, of mechanism for moving saidclutch out of engagement with each of said gears, said clutch mechanismembodying two plungers one adapted to move the clutch out of engagementwith one of said gears and the other adapted to move the clutch out ofengagement with the other gear, and means for throwing said clutch intoengagement with one or the other of said gears.

7. The combination, with a reversible feed mechanism embodying a pair ofgears and an intermediate shifting clutch, of mechanism for shiftingsaid clutch, said clutch-shifting mechanism embodying a rock-shaft, andtwo plungers, one plunger adapted to throw the clutch out of engagementwith one of said gears and the other plunger adapted to throw the clutchout of engagement with the other gear, and means to rock said shaft tothrow said clutch into engagement with one or the other of said gears.

8. The combination, with a reversible feed mechanism embodying a pair ofgears and an intermediate shifting clutch, of mechanism for shiftingsaid clutch, said clutch-shifting mechanism embodying two plungers oneadapted to shift the clutch out of engagement with one of said gears andthe other adapted to shift the clutch out of engagement with the othergear, of a movable stop adapted to be moved into position to prevent theclutch from being thrown into engagement with one of said gears.

9. The combina tion, with a reversible feed mechanism embodying a pairof gears and an intermediate shifting clutch, of mechanism for shiftingsaid clutch and means which may be adjusted to prevent said clutch frombeing thrown into engagement with one of said gears, while permittingits engagement with the other gear.

10. The combination, witha reversible feed mechanism embodying a pair ofgears and an intermediate shifting clutch, of mechanism for shiftingsaid clutch, and a pair of movable stops normally in position to permitthe engagement of said clutch with either of said gears, one of saidstops being adapted to be moved into position to prevent the engagementof the clutch with one of said gears, and the other stop being adaptedto be moved into position to prevent the engagement of the clutch withthe other gear.

11. The combination of a shifting clutch, a rock-shaft for operating thesame, two plungers adapted to actuate said rock-shaft, shoulders orprojections on one of said plungers, and movable stops or pins adaptedto engage said shoulders or projections.

JOHN PARKER.

Witnesses:

O. G. BRADLEY, J. H. THURSTON.

ICO

